Charles Nii Armah Mensah, popularly known as Shatta Wale, is a dancehall artiste and songwriter who is the CEO of Shatta Movement in Ghana.

Biography

Charles Nii Armah Mensah Jnr well known as Shatta wale was born on October 17, 1984    at the Ghana Police Hospital in Accra. He was born to parents from Accra and Volta Region of Ghana and his father is a politician, businessman and legal practitioner. He is a reggae-dancehall musician and a producer.

Shatta Wale schooled at the Seven Great Princes Academy at Dansoman, a suburb in Accra, where he demonstrated his love for arts. He acted in a popular Akan drama series, ‘By The Fireside’, at the National Theatre of Ghana. Growing up, he lived with his family in Laterbiokorshie, Dansoman and then later Korle Gonno during his early stages in life. The dancehall artiste once revealed in a video that he never enjoyed motherly love and care as a child. According to him a pastor destroyed his parents’ union which made him to remain under his father’s care and later ended up on the streets. Elsie Evelyn Avemegah is his mother.

His father introduced him to the Jamaican culture by playing Reggae records in the house and also continuously traveling with him to the UK to meet his relatives who were half Jamaicans growing up. These exposure made him develop love for music at a young age. Shatta completed his high school education thanks to his father’s pressure against his love and passion to do music and drop out of school. Even in school and right after school he pursued his musical dream but his father did not agree and wanted him to become a lawyer, this led to a misunderstanding which tore the relationship they had. Pursuing his music career, Shatta Wale later went to Jamaica to polish and master his dancehall craft.

Having achieved street credibility in a fairly undeveloped Ghanaian dancehall genre back in the days, he soon gain recognition with his hit single, “Moko Hoo”, which featured Ghanaian musician Tinny in 2004. He used Bandana as his stage name back in the days. That same year, the song blessed him with a nomination at the Ghana Music Awards. Wale is a multi-talented artist. He is consistent too. In the last two decades, Shatta has released more projects than any other artist in the contemporary Ghanaian music scene. Throughout his career that spans over two decades, he has accomplished several milestones.

Life Facts 

1. He rebranded from Bandana to Shatta Wale where he started a new career which revolved around dancehall in a Jamaican style.

2. Artistes like Terry Bonchaka and Yoggy Doggy nurtured Shatta Wale when he began his dancehall journey. This is because the dancehall genre was started by Terry Bonchaka, Yoggy Doggy, Root Eye and many others but they couldn’t break through at the time.

3. Shatta Wale is an actor, having appeared in the films Never Say Never ,The trial of Shatta Wale  and Shattered Lives.

4. In 2016, Wale became one of the most powerful men in Ghana as two biggest political parties, National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party used his hit songs; “Mahama Paper” and “Kakai” to run their campaign.

5. He released his third album, Reign, on October 13 at the Fantasy Dome in Accra, and used the occasion to propose to his longtime girlfriend Michy on stage. The album achieved a record for a Ghanaian act by appearing on the Billboard Top World Albums Chart, placing sixth.

6. In 2018 he was signed as an artiste under Zylofon media.

7. He is rumoured to be sleeping with Ghanaian actress Efia Odo whom he claims is his best friend.

8. He doesn’t have any University education.

9. Shatta Wale makes his own beat.